I don’t know which one is worse - coming into a house that has just been painted, or one with brand new carpet.

Paint odor is strong. But new carpet smell has a more chemical element to the olfactory nerves. And while paint odor usually dissipates in a few days, new carpet smell can linger for weeks or months, depending on the type of carpet you buy and where it’s manufactured.

What can you do to avoid this odorous situation? Look for eco-friendly, low offgassing carpet.

GreenFloors sells low offgassing carpet for both homes and commercial locations.

One square yard of GreenFloors carpeting will keep approximately forty plastic containers out of our landfills. That’s because most of the residential carpets they sell are made from 100% post-consumer recycled food and drink containers.

The recycled carpet is made from polyester, which has fewer smell issues that other types of carpeting.

Plus it meets the Carpet and Rug Institutes Green Label Plus tests for indoor air quality.

You can order 4 free carpet samples from GreenFloor to give it a test run before you order. You only pay shipping and handling, which is less than $6. They also have 5-8 free samples for $11.90, and 9-12 samples for $17.85.

Alexis Dawes
Editor, No More Smelly House

It’s no secret that I’m all about having a nice smelling home.

But the one thing I realized is that you can’t have a nice smelling home if your constantly trying to cover up bad odors with a can of air freshener.

Air freshener to odor is like putting a bandage on a gun shot wound. It ain’t gonna work.

You have to neutralize the bad odors first.

Fresh2 provides a rather ingenious method for neutralizing smells, without even having to think about it. In fact, every time you turn on the light you’re killing odors.

Fresh2 is a titanium dioxide coated fluorescent light bulb.

According to Ellis Yan, CEO of Technical Consumer Products, which manufactures fresh2, “When this coating is exposed to fluorescent light, which is given off by the bulb itself, it produces a photocatalytic reaction. This creates very strong oxidizers that completely break down odors. The purifying process begins to work 10 minutes after the bulb is turned on.”
 
The bulbs themselves are only 23 watts, so they’ll work in any standard sized socket. However because they’re compact fluorescent bulbs, they give off the same light as a 100 watt bulb, at a lower energy cost.

They’ll last approximately 10,000 hours or three years - which totally justifies the price tag of $19.95 for two bulbs.

Fresh2 bulbs are only available through the manufacturers web site.

A review of Fresh2 bulbs can be found at The Gadgeteer.

Alexis Dawes
Editor, No More Smelly House

If you’ve got a dog or a cat, and you’ve got carpeting in your house, you’ve probably had to deal with a pee-pee accident on more than one occasion.

(And if you haven’t, you’re the luckiest pet owner in the world… go give your furry friend a treat.)

One of the biggest problems with pet urine is that most people don’t catch it right away. It could be hours before you realize that something’s rotten in Denmark.

By then, your little buddy has possibly revisited the spot again.

What started as surface dampness has turned into wet carpet, wet padding, and oftentimes a semi-permanent subfloor odor. It’s definitely one of the more dreaded events in a pet owners home, as it takes a moderate amount of time and money to get rid of a urine smell that has saturated the subfloor.

But now that problem is a thing of the past.

In February, STAINMASTER released a new line of carpet padding that contains a SpillNet® Protection System. The padding has a special antimicrobial treatment, called Fresh Dimension™ that fights the growth of odor causing mold, mildew and fungus in the cushion. Plus the breathable moisture barrier in the cushion prevents liquids from penetrating the cushion.

So now when there’s a pee-pee accident, the spill stays on top of the cushion for easier removal. No more leakage down to the subfloor. Hallaleuah!

This is the type of investment that’ll easily pay for itself if you ever decide to sell your home. For cat lovers, who are smell haters, this type of padding is a must.

Interested? Ask your local carpet supplier for the Stainmaster Ultra Life carpet cushion.

Alexis Dawes
Editor, No More Smelly House